Man sentenced to 18 years for sexually abusing girl

LAS CRUCES - A Las Cruces man who was convicted of sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Tuesday in 3rd Judicial District Court.

Daniel Lee Landon, 27, was found guilty in December by a Doña Ana County jury on one count of first-degree criminal sexual penetration of a minor and one count of second-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor.

Daniel was arrested on Jan. 12, 2014 by Las Cruces police. The day before, he was caught “acting sexually inappropriate” near his girlfriend’s two young daughters, who were both under the age of 7, according to the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Police detectives later discovered that Landon had sexually abused one of the girls before being caught by her mother.

During Monday’s sentencing hearing, Landon maintained his innocence, and his attorney asked for leniency from Chief District Judge Fernando R. Macias.

“My client’s position is that this never happened,” Landon’s attorney, George Harrison, said during his argument for a reduced sentence.

But Macias imposed the maximum sentences for both convictions – 18 years for the rape charge and 15 years for the molestation charge – but ordered that the sentences run concurrently, meaning Landon will have to serve 18 years in prison.

Macias sentenced Landon after he was handed a letter from the victim, now 8, who was present for the sentencing and also testified during the trial. Macias did not read the letter aloud, but the case’s lead prosecutor, Davis Ruark, said after the hearing that the girl conveyed in the letter that Landon had been a “trusted” father figure who “betrayed” and “took advantage" of her.

Ruark described the girl as a “strong young lady” and lauded the guilty verdicts.

“I’m very grateful to the jury for convicting (Landon), and I’m very grateful to Judge Macias for imposing the maximum sentence under Count 1,” he said. “It was gratifying to the young victim. Hopefully there will be a message sent that, in spite of the fact that there may not be a whole lot of physical evidence, we can obtain convictions on the basis of testimony from a very strong young lady.”

In a statement, District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said, “There is no sentence that could make our young victim whole again. However, I do believe today’s outcome gives her and her family at least a little bit of closure.”

According to jail records, Landon bonded out of the Doña Ana County Detention Center three days after he was arrested on Jan. 12, 2014. He was arrested for failure to comply on Dec. 17, 2014, and was released Jan. 24, 2015, the records show.

After he was convicted on Dec. 10, 2015, he was taken into custody. He will remain at the detention center until he is transferred to the state Department of Corrections.

Landon will have to register as a sex offender once he is released from prison.